The BrainDance Awards encourage high school students to gain knowledge about psychiatric diseases and develop a more tolerant and realistic perspective toward people with severe psychiatric problems. The competition also aims to promote students’ interest in careers in mental health care.

Awards and cash prizes were given to first, second and third-place finishers in the Art, Academic and Mixed Media categories. Additionally, two teachers were honored for their support of the BrainDance Awards and their work done to help stop the stigma of mental illness.

Awards were presented by Nancy Hubbard, LCSW, from the Institute of Living and Matcheri S. Keshavan, MD, from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Massachusetts Mental Health Center, and Harvard Medical School. The awards were followed by a panel discussion with mental health professionals and a Grand Rounds Lecture from Dr. Keshavan entitled, “Why is adolescence a period of risk for emotional brain disorders?”

Founded in 1822, The Institute of Living was one of the first mental health centers in the United States, and the first hospital of any kind in Connecticut. Located on 35 acres landscaped by Frederick Law Olmsted, The Institute of Living lies near the center of Hartford, Connecticut. Becoming a Division of Hartford Hospital in 1994, it remains one of America’s leading not-for-profit centers for comprehensive patient care, research and education in the fields of behavioral, psychiatric, and addiction disorders.